FIRST ON FOX: Fighter pilot and embellished fight veteran Jeff Witt introduced Monday he’s getting into the race to fill former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s seat representing Florida’s 1st congressional district as a Republican who vows to “battle to get inflation below management, safe our borders, and strengthen our navy,” whereas working with fellow GOP lawmakers to cross President Trump’s “America First” agenda, Fox Information Digital has realized.
Witt, 38, is a two-time graduate of Harvard College, a businessman, embellished Afghanistan Battle veteran, F-35 fighter pilot and teacher with greater than a dozen years of navy service. Witt flew 82 fight missions in Operation Enduring Freedom.
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Witt is at present serving as a coverage advisor on the Trump-Vance Presidential Transition Group.
“I’ve served my nation in uniform for 14 years, and my dedication to service extends to the group during which my household and I dwell,” Witt informed Fox Information Digital. “I’m excited to fulfill voters from all throughout the district on this marketing campaign, and show to them that they’ll belief me to be a frontrunner in Congress who represents them with conviction, laborious work, and integrity.”
Witt informed Fox Information Digital that he’ll “battle to get inflation below management, safe our borders, and strengthen our navy.”
Jeff and his spouse Courtney are the proud mother and father of 4 younger youngsters – Joan (6), Kirby (5), Grace (3), and Charlie (8 mos).
“I’ll hearken to the wants of my constituents, and I’ll work on their behalf to make Florida’s 1st District the best place in America for veterans, companies, and households,” he mentioned.
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Witt and his spouse Courtney are mother and father of 4 younger youngsters, Joan, 6; Kirby, 5; Grace, 3; and Charlie, 8 months previous. The Witt household resides in Niceville, Fla., the place he’s an lively member of his church and teaches his youngsters’s Sunday college.
Witt attended Harvard College for his undergraduate research and was a Harvard soccer quarterback. He additionally acquired his Grasp of Enterprise Administration from Harvard College.
Jeff has 14 years of navy service and is a embellished Afghanistan Battle Veteran. He flew 82 fight missions in Operation Enduring Freedom. (Jeff Witt)
A 2024 Membership for Development fellow, Witt has already been endorsed by high former Trump administration officers, together with former Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie.
“Jeff Witt is a patriot and a staunch supporter of President Trump and his America First agenda,” Wilkie informed Fox Information Digital. “As the previous Secretary of Veterans Affairs below President Trump, I do know that Jeff’s mission will all the time be to place warriors first. I’m honored to provide Jeff my full endorsement.”
Wilkie informed Fox Information Digital that Witt “stands for the best issues—household and freedom.”
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“There might be nobody higher than Jeff Witt to symbolize Florida’s 1st Congressional District,” former director of the Air Nationwide Guard Lt. Gen. (ret.) Stanley Clarke informed Fox Information Digital.
Witt served below Clarke, who praised him as “an incredible father, husband, and officer who has devoted his life to serving this nice nation.”
“A real American patriot who will serve Individuals with honor and distinction,” Clarke mentioned of Witt.
Witt’s marketing campaign comes after Trump tapped Gaetz as his legal professional common to guide the Justice Division in his second time period.
Gaetz had represented Florida’s 1st congressional district from January 2017 till earlier this month, when he resigned from his submit upon receiving the nomination for legal professional common.
Born in Orlando, Witt now resides along with his household in Niceville. Witt is a Christian and an lively member of his church, the place he teaches youngsters’s Sunday college.
Gaetz withdrew his title from consideration for legal professional common on Thursday, saying his affirmation course of was “unfairly turning into a distraction to the vital work of the Trump-Vance transition.”
Gaetz resigned from his seat representing Florida’s 1st Congressional District earlier this month when President Trump nominated him to function legal professional common. Gaetz has since withdrawn his title from consideration to guide the Justice Division, however mentioned Friday he wouldn’t try to return to Congress.
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Witt joins a rising Republican major discipline of candidates vying for the seat, together with Florida State Sen. Michelle Salzman, Dr. Joel Rudman; Keith Gross and John Frankman; Bernadette Pittman; and former federal authorities official and instructor Kevin Gaffney.
The date for the particular election has but to be set.
Witt is the brother of Patrick Witt, a member of the Trump Transition crew who ran for statewide workplace in Georgia in 2022 with the endorsement of President Trump. Patrick Witt additionally served within the first Trump administration as deputy chief of workers within the Workplace of Personnel Administration.